The Standards Exam: A Pointless Ritual or a Wake-Up Call for the Dive Industry
The Standards Exam
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| PADI IDC Indonesia | Standards Exams | Dive Organizations |
Every single PADI Instructor Examination has the infamous standards exam. Candidates sweat over it, looking up standards and flipping through their Instructor Manual. They sit the exam, they pass, they move on to another part of the Instructor Examination, and then — for most — that manual collects dust forever.
And here lies the irony: the newest instructors are the most up to date with the latest standards and changes from PADI, yet they are the first ones to throw it all away and copy whatever outdated, corner-cutting methods are being used by the dive shop where they find work. The standards exam, in too many cases, becomes a meaningless ritual — a hoop to jump through, not a professional code to uphold.
This is a disease in the dive industry, and it’s getting worse.
What the Standards Exam Should Be
During the PADI IDC at Oceans 5 Gili Air, Course Director Waz takes the standards exam seriously — not as a test of memory, but as a crash course in professional responsibility. He goes through the Instructor Manual line by line, showing candidates:
What the General Standards and Procedures mean, and why they exist.
Where to find prerequisites, ratios, depth limits, and performance requirements.
What the membership obligations are and what happens if you break them.
The goal is not to create a candidate who can pass a one-time exam. The goal is to create an instructor who knows how to find answers, read standards correctly, and teach by the book.
But what happens next is where it all falls apart.
The Reality After the IDC: The Copycat Culture
Once the “newborn instructor” lands their first job, the manual stays closed. Instead of being the one to raise the bar, they copy what everyone else does — even when it’s wrong.
The dive shop cuts the Open Water course to 2.5 days to sell more certifications? The new instructor does the same.
The shop hasn’t updated their teaching since 2016? The new instructor teaches outdated skills.
The shop’s experienced instructors skip confined water requirements? The newbie follows along, too scared to speak up.
And here’s the kicker: the person most current on standards is now actively helping the shop ignore them.
Why? Fear. Fear of being labeled “difficult.” Fear of losing the job. Fear of being the only one in the room insisting on doing things right.
The Industry’s Favorite Excuse: “We Need to Make Money”
Ask a dive center why they cut corners and the answer is predictable:
“We have to make money.”
“There’s no one policing this anyway.”
“Nobody cares — students just want the card.”
This is nonsense.
Safety and quality are not optional extras — they are the very foundation of what the diving industry sells. By ignoring standards, these shops are selling cheap plastic cards, not competent divers. And the worst part? They proudly post photos of it all over social media, smiling students kneeling on coral, missing required gear, overloaded boats — effectively broadcasting to the world: “Look at us! We break standards!”
And what do the training agencies do? Most of the time, nothing. As long as the certifications keep coming in, the machine keeps running.
Where Are the Organizations?
This is where the dive organizations themselves must share the blame. They love to say that their brand represents quality, safety, and professionalism. But where is the enforcement?
We live in a world where social media is flooded with evidence of standards violations every single day. It would take one intern with a smartphone half an hour a day to flag shops kneeling students on coral or skipping skills. Yet there is no visible effort to hold centers accountable — not until a major accident or legal case forces action.
Meanwhile, the shops that play by the rules — that teach courses the right way, give students time to master skills, and respect the environment — are punished by being more expensive, slower, and less “competitive” than the corner-cutters down the street.
The Death of Professional Pride
The saddest part is watching new instructors slowly lose their professional backbone. They start out eager, proud to be PADI instructors, determined to do things right. But months later, they are just another cog in the machine, rushing through courses, skipping skills, and shrugging at safety breaches.
Why? Because no one has their back. Because the message they get is clear:
“Shut up and get the card signed.”
This is not professionalism. This is survival. And it’s killing the credibility of our industry.
Why the Standards Exam Still Matters
And yet, despite all of this, the standards exam is not pointless. In fact, it is more important than ever — because it reminds every candidate, at least once, what right looks like.
At Oceans 5, we make sure candidates leave the IDC knowing that the manual is not a book to pass an exam — it is the lifeline that will protect them, their students, and their reputation. Waz drills into every candidate that standards are non-negotiable. Not suggestions. Not “if you have time.”
Scenario training shows them what to do when pressured to cut corners.
Ethical discussions prepare them for the reality of being the only one in the room who cares.
Empowerment gives them permission to say no — even to a boss — when safety or compliance is at stake.
A Wake-Up Call for the Dive Industry
It’s time for a reckoning. If training agencies truly care about their brand, they must stop rewarding volume over quality.
Monitor social media and enforce standards violations.
Reward dive centers that teach the full course and document mastery, even if it takes longer.
Provide whistleblower protections for new instructors who are pressured to cut corners.
Stop pretending that the problem doesn’t exist.
Conclusion: Enough Is Enough
The standards exam is not the problem — the industry’s refusal to live by those standards is. New instructors should be leading the way, not falling into line behind outdated, unsafe teaching methods.
If we want scuba diving to remain respected, safe, and professional, then we must stop treating the Instructor Manual as a dusty PDF and start treating it as what it truly is: our code of conduct.
At Oceans 5 Gili Air, we refuse to play the race-to-the-bottom game. We teach to standards. We take time. We create divers, not just certifications. And we challenge every new instructor to have the courage to do the same — no matter where they work next.
Because at the end of the day, the industry won’t change until enough instructors say:
“No. This is not how we do it. These are the standards. Follow them.”
The question is — will you be one of them?
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